... where in the heck does he keep picking up these Willile Mitchell rumors (its in the comments of his canucks-lightning rumor post)? Usually he's dropping names that are of no surprise to anyone, and have been mentioned elsewhere, but this is one of those ones that comes from waaaay out in left field. What the heck? I need Eklund like I need another hole in the head, and I know it means absolutely nothing, but its a little more disconcerting when the "onlycouldathoughtofitonacid" stuff is about YOUR guys. The mudslinging bugs me, and I don't like it. I think what I really need is one of the dog collars that shocks when they bark... except mine could shock when I log on to hockeybuzz . Mitchell's not going anywhere...

He's been reporting that all summer. He keeps claiming that Vancouver is moving one of the big 4, and has hinted mostly at Ohlund and Mitchell. It's quite the farce if you ask me. I really can't stand to go to that site, but it's kind of like a car crash. No matter how much you don't want to look, you just can't help it.

Eklund just spews whatever rumours he can get his hands on out on his site regardless of the potential of the actual deal happening.

That being said, everyone wants this new scorer up front... we have a number of defensemen that other teams would love to have. Therefore it makes sense that either Mitchell or Ohlund would be mentioned in trade rumours.

Personally, as much as I like him, if we can get a decent winger for Ohlund (and of course he waves his No Trade) I'd probably pull that trigger. All depends on what would come in return.

Ignore Eklund. Maybe Nonis has received a few calls about Ohlund/Mitchell but I think it's fairly obvious he isn't moving any of our defenceman (except maybe Krajicek) at this point I'd say Bourdon and Edler are untouchable too. We thrive on defence, and really our offence isn't any worse then what it was last year, and we did fairly well once every had learnt their place. I don't think scoring will be anywhere near as much of a problem as everyone thinks.

I'd take this group of players of any other team in the NHL right now (except Pittsburgh). We have cap space to get a forward if necessary, and hopefully someone like Raymond, Hansen or Cooke will step into the hole at forward. We're not in bad shape.

To me, it seems like Nonis is taking the "wait and see" strategy for now, hoping someone stands out enough in training camp and preseason, maybe even the first bit of the season before he makes a move. He's saved his cap space, so he has the room he wanted... he's not going to blow that before the season starts (unless something falls into his lap of course). I don't see him in a rush to fill the spot just yet. I think he's in the Luongo camp in thinking we won't be as hard for goals as everyone thinks. That being said, I'm sure he's got some feelers out there and if the right deal fell into place he wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger.

As for the rumours, Ohlund I could possibly see but no way in hell do we trade the home town guy who took a pay cut to play for his home team, in the 2nd year of his contract off of UFA. He wants to be here, we want him here, he's pretty much untouchable at this point I'd say. It would look poorly on DN if he was moved so soon.

Come to think of it, the Aaron Miller signing would make allot more sense if DN was planning to possibly move a Dman at some point... planning ahead by pilling up?

He probably just heard something about how they want a guy like mitchell, and then just speculates after that. He is a bit of a joke. the stuff that does happen that he "predicts".. isn't really that astounding

Ignore Eklund. Maybe Nonis has received a few calls about Ohlund/Mitchell but I think it's fairly obvious he isn't moving any of our defenceman (except maybe Krajicek) at this point I'd say Bourdon and Edler are untouchable too

Do you think they would move Krajicek Level ??? Interesting observation ... he is pretty young and really improved over the course of the year ... like to hear your thoughts on that.

I don't think Mitchell will go ... and probably not Ohlund .... although he would appear to be the most likely of the two. I believe there is just a bunch of rumours floating around from some happy posters ... nothing concrete, official or otherwise.

Whatever happened to .... Media Man ... he would likely have some good insight on it ...

Ignore Eklund. Maybe Nonis has received a few calls about Ohlund/Mitchell but I think it's fairly obvious he isn't moving any of our defenceman (except maybe Krajicek) at this point I'd say Bourdon and Edler are untouchable too

Do you think they would move Krajicek Level ??? Interesting observation ... he is pretty young and really improved over the course of the year ... like to hear your thoughts on that.

My reasoning is this:
Krajicek is a young and moderately talented puck-moving defenceman, but realistically I think he'll cap out as a #4/5 guy working the 2nd PP unit. I admit Krajicek improved steadily as the season went on and seemed fairly comfortable stepping into a greater role with our blueline injuries in the playoffs. That is not to say, however, that he's ever going to amount to much. His shot is extremely lacking, and when he's not paired with a solid defensive defenceman he's a train-wreck in his own end (Who can forget the Krajicek-Fitzpatrick fiasco).

He does have some talent though, and I'm sure some teams are interested in him. Ohlund, Salo, Mitchell and Bieksa are all locked up long term, and in the case of the first three NTCs are also a factor, so they won't be going anywhere soon. Add to that Edler and Bourdon looking to worm their way onto the team, and you have a logjam at defence.

Why not trade him for scoring help if the need arises? He is easily our most expendable defender, and team looking to add some offence from their back end would love to have a guy like him. You have to give to get, and Krajicek looks like our most attractive trading chip that isn't a prospect. I'm not saying that Nonis is TRYING to move Krajicek, but if the right trade is on the table I'm sure he won't hesitate to make the deal.

I'd say realistically our current window to win the cup expires when all of our defenceman's contracts start expiring (not to mention Luongo), so why not trade some youth for some experience? I don't care if we miss the playoffs ten years running if we win a stanley cup just once. And that's the ultimate goal is it not?

What do you think about unloading say a Ohlund or Salo before they become too injury prone or aged ?? Should we be looking at some kind of return on them now while they have some value while in the meantime continue to develop youth ?

What do you think about unloading say a Ohlund or Salo before they become too injury prone or aged ?? Should we be looking at some kind of return on them now while they have some value while in the meantime continue to develop youth ?

Grizz

As I said earlier, Ohlund and Salo have NTCs, and the chances of them waiving them is unlikely (I would imagine). Personally, I feel it would be better to let them retire Canucks so that we can show we have a history of loyalty to any players that may want to consider signing with us. Anyways, we have a ton of good young defensive prospects, so not being able to shore up our defence is unlikely.

There's a new rumor that just came out from the same unreliable source about Vancouver. It says that Vancouver is trying to put together a package to acquire Semin. I can see why Vancouver would like a scoring winger with great potential, but why would the Caps give him up? It doesn't look like they're going to compete this season so why would they want to trade away a young player? It doesn't seem like they have a lot of scoring depth either. I'd love to have Semin on my team, however. An added bonus is that the can play the point on the PP with his great slapshot.

I really can't see this happening. Who would the Canucks move for him? He would demand a high enough price. I really don't want Nonis to move any of the core D men this year. I would like to see them come back healthy and see what they can do together when healthy.